First trip to Wenatchee

This weekend we've visited Chris & Gerry in Wenatchee for the first time since Gerritt's birth. It was so fun for me go back & to show off Gerritt, however, it was very tiring. Gerritt was completely off his feeding & sleeping schedule. Poor thing, the first night there we put him down to sleep in his new portacrib in the guest room. He woke up crying & yelling at 2 am, scared & confused, not knowing where he was. There was no way he was going back into his crib, so we put him in bed between us. He slept peacefully until about 7 am. The 2nd night I didn't even try putting Gerritt into his portacrib since he was clinging & holding on to me very tightly all evening. I ended up sleeping next to him in my queen-sized bed with my husband sleeping in the guest room. That morning Gerritt woke up at 5:30 am, ate, then slept from 6 to 7 am. He hardly took any naps, afraid to be left alone in an unfamiliar place, and only if he was very very tired. One day he napped from 5 to 7:30 pm. Both nights Gerritt went to bed at 10 pm.
On Saturday another event happened. Gerritt learned how to go from laying to sitting position all by himself! He uses his abdominal muscles & arms to push himself up. What a strong boy! It is all of a sudden such a challenge to change his diaper or get him dressed since he is trying to sit up the whole time. Also putting Gerritt to bed is more difficult. I used to put him down & he would fuss for a few minutes before drifting off to sleep. Now the minute I put him down he sits up. So we play this game: I put him down, he sits up, I put him down again, he sits up, etc. I finally just decided to let him sit until he gets tired enough to fall asleep. Tonight he sat for about half-an-hour. He was getting sleepy & his head was falling lower & lower on his chest, however, he refused to lay down. It is the funniest thing! I finally just held him in my arms & rocked him to sleep & then lowered him into his crib. Yes, we've had to lower his crib's mattress this weekend. When I saw Gerritt's new acrobatics, I knew his current crib arrangement was not safe any more. All it takes is him leaning over the rail while sitting in his crib to fall out.
All in all it was a fun weekend. Gerritt got to meet my old friend Anna, Judy & Jerry Lawson, & Diane & Greg Olshavsky. He got lots of attention, play time & holding. He has certaintly improved being around strangers. He used to cry if someone unfamiliar just looked at him, now occasionally he lets that person hold him for a couple of minutes as long as Mommy & Daddy are nearby. Judy was so sweet to buy the cutest toy bus with little people inside it & a few books for Gerritt. Chris & Gerry bought a touch-and-feel Farm Animals book for him. Gerritt is sure lucky to have so many people who love him! It seems that during this weekend Gerritt has grown so much. He is going to start crawling soon I am afraid!